welcome home
by champion lyra
Summary: Yusaku had always done what was needed of him, even when it had hurt, so just this once, Ryoken could wait for him to do something for himself. —DataStormShipping, RyokenYusaku. SPOILERS FOR 120.


**Notes**

**VRAINS EPISODE 120 SPOILERS AHEAD.**

So... how about the Vrains finale, huh? I've been crying off and on all day, but during the episode, I cried like a goddamn baby lmao. After it had finished, I cried even harder, and I still have a headache over 12 hours later from just. The amount of tears.

All in all though, I was really happy with the ending. With the limited time they had, they gave us something amazing for S3, and I really appreciate that. Even though I'm happy, I still have a lot of feelings to get out, so I wrote this in the last *looks at clock* hour and a half. This is very much so just me needing to get my feelings out, much like _lost and found _is. If you enjoyed that, though, hopefully you'll enjoy this too.

* * *

The moment Playmaker - no, Yusaku Fujiki - had won his duel, Ryoken knew.

He'd wanted to track the duel from the moment he'd left Yusaku on the shore with his card, but whatever version of Link VRAINS the Dark Ignis had brought them into to duel, Ryoken couldn't find it. As much as he wanted to silently route for his former rival, he was left doing so from behind a computer screen that had nothing but lines of scrolling code, searching for any hint of duel activity from either of them.

No, what had tipped him off was when Spectre came into his room; a very confused look on his face. Instantly, Ryoken knew what that must've meant, and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Playmaker," Spectre said as a guess, after observing the expressions that Ryoken was cycling through. He nodded at his old friend, a small twitch of the lips accompanied with it.

"Indeed."

* * *

What Ryoken hadn't expected, however, was that after the duel, there would be no sign of him whatsoever. He and the other Knights had been doing exactly what was instructed of them - watching over the network, but Ryoken was looking for something specific. Any instance of Playmaker logging in would've immediately notified him, but as the days went on and there was still no sign of the younger boy, his heart began to grow heavy. A day passed, and then three, and then an entire week until Ryoken couldn't take it anymore.

There was no way he could've lost. Not with the fact that his Knights and Spectre were all present, not with the fact that he hadn't seen heads nor tails of the Dark Ignis in the network, either. SOL was recovering, as well, with Queen stepping down and the title going to Akira Zaizen. If the Dark Ignis had won, that most certainly not be the situation.

It took three days _after _Ryoken truly began to start outwardly worrying to finally call Kusanagi, however. They had never officially exchanged numbers, but the cafe owner wasn't at all surprised to hear from him.

"Who am I talking to?" Kusanagi answered by means of a greeting, and Ryoken shifted the phone to his other side.

"Revolver," he said, still feeling unsure about using his real name. It's not as if Kusanagi didn't know it - he knew it, and where his house was, and was a talented enough hacker he would be able to find their boat's location, too, if he wanted - but it felt too personal. Too close. He'd barely flinched when Yusaku had used it, though, but he didn't want to think about that right now. "I was hoping you had information on Yusaku." The phone went silent in his hand, and after a few moments, Ryoken had to remove it from his ear to double check that Kusanagi hadn't hung up on him. "Kusanagi?"

Ryoken could hear the older man take a shuddering breath. "Sorry, I'm here," he apologized, though he didn't sound sorry at all. Just tired. "I haven't heard from him since he went to duel Ai."

That was nearly two weeks ago at that point. That was a long time to not hear from someone who one spoke with on a regular basis. Ryoken opened his mouth to question him, but Kusanagi unintentionally cut him off.

"I checked on his apartment. He'd left a note, so I guess that counts," Kusanagi continued, sounding wearier by the second. "All he said was that he couldn't accept that Ai was truly gone, so he wouldn't be back until he could come back with Ai."

It wasn't really that surprising to him, in all honesty. He had known, from the get go, how important the Dark Ignis was to Yusaku. It had made sense - they'd spent so long together, and he was created from Yusaku's experiences. No matter what kind of horrible things the Ignis had tried to do, if there was anyone in this world capable of forgiveness, it was Yusaku.

He, himself, was living proof of that. After nearly committing mass genocide for his father's ideals, Yusaku had looked him in the eye and told him that he would save him. Despite how Ryoken couldn't forgive the Ignis for what he'd said, what he'd done, if Yusaku could… well, that meant something. Nobody was privy to their final duel, regardless. Maybe there was something left of him worth saving. Worth redeeming.

Ryoken would, for once, give him the benefit of the doubt. He owed the younger boy that much.

"Thank you," Ryoken said, exhaling harshly as he did. "I suppose I will go back to scanning the network, then. I appreciate your honesty."

There was another long pause, and Ryoken was starting to wonder if Kusanagi _had _really just hung up on him, but then a voice came through once more. "Yusaku would've wanted you to know." Ryoken wasn't sure how much he agreed with that, but didn't say anything. "I'll let you know if I hear from him, if you can do the same."

It was his turn to pause. He'd been expecting _maybe _a small, vague answer of _he's fine _or _he'll contact you when he's ready to_ but this was both incredibly helping and worrying all at once. He wasn't used to the level of emotion that kept coming to him in waves. Yusaku was still searching for Ai. Yusaku was doing so without anyone's help, completely on his own. Yusaku would've wanted him to know.

"I will, thank you. Have a good evening, Kusanagi," he said, and hung up before Kusanagi could say anything else to make his mind go haywire.

Sinking down into the chair in his private quarters, Ryoken wondered what his next step should be. Akira had contacted them just the other day about possibly having his team work on security for the new Link VRAINS, but they did not have the space equipped to handle that task on the boat they were currently on. And that, of course, was not even considering the Yusaku factor, and the information he'd just learned.

He wasn't sure why it even mattered to him, so much. He could rationalize it away - he had always been protective over the Lost Children, try hard as he might not to be, or maybe it could be because Yusaku still had one of his Borreload monsters - but Ryoken was well aware of the truth. He just wasn't ready to admit it to himself.

With a sigh, Ryoken decided that was fine, for now. He was sure Yusaku wouldn't be away long.

* * *

Two weeks became one month, and one month became two, however, much more quickly than he realized.

Between the deal he'd struck up with Zaizen, the new Link VRAINS operating safely as now a hub, and not just a Den City exclusive, and moving onto the new boat he had bought for himself and his team, Ryoken had been busy. He would be the first to admit that. But every day, without fail, he would do one last network scan, for one specific duelist.

Yusaku's apartment was still bugged, and he'd check on that, too. Just for any changes. But nothing ever changed on that front, besides the collecting of dust along the floor and the tables. Nothing ever changed in his network scans, either, and there was a small part of Ryoken that was starting to wonder whether the boy would ever come back at all.

He was well aware of how he had ended up in Den City again, on his own, with no parents or family to take care of him. It certainly wasn't in his nature to just up and run away from things, but fact of the matter was, Yusaku had done it before. It worried him, more than he'd care to admit, when another week would go by without a call from Kusanagi or an update on either of his daily searches.

But as time went on, Ryoken started to understand, a bit more. Ai, the Dark Ignis, was important to him. Whatever had transpired between them during their final duel… it had clearly impacted him, in ways Yusaku likely hadn't been expecting. Yusaku had always done what was needed of him, even when it had hurt, so just this once, Ryoken could wait for him to do something for himself.

He deserved that much, Ryoken was starting to understand. And so he would keep vigil, every night, just making sure that he wasn't out there somewhere in need of his help.

Yusaku would come back when he was ready. He was beginning to accept that. And besides, he realized that night, after shutting down his computer, he still had his own part of the promise to complete.

He'd done well in keeping true to his word to Soulburner, to watch over the network and to keep things running smoothly from the sidelines, and it was a good start. But the future Yusaku had been so desperate to seek…

Shaking his head, Ryoken let out a sigh, pushing his hands into his eyes for just a moment. Maybe it was finally time he sought the help he needed.

If Yusaku was allowed to do something for himself, in this new world, than so was he, he supposed.

* * *

Those two months had turned into three, and there was still no sign of him on the network. Ryoken was beginning to wonder if he'd programmed his login to be hidden, given his circumstances. _Won't come back without Ai_, as he understood it, was going to be a much longer journey than Ryoken had originally thought.

But that was okay, he reminded himself. Zaizen and his Knights were doing well to keep Link VRAINS functioning, ready for him when he was ready to be there. And Kusanagi hadn't moved from his classic spot in Den City's center, claiming that Yusaku would be sad if he got back and had found out his home had moved without him.

And there was also the matter of the empty bedroom that sat across from his private quarters, that nobody dared ask him about. Over the last three months, he'd grown tired of watching Yusaku's crappy apartment collect dust through the cameras he'd bugged so long ago. It hadn't really been a conscious thought of his, but his therapist had recommended it to him, so he let it be.

Yusaku had many different homes to return to, now.

His phone rang from his desk, startling him momentarily, and he let out a withering sigh when he realized who was on the line waiting for him. "Takeru," he said as soon as he accepted the call, not even bothering to hide how tired he was. "What can I do for you?"

The boy had taken to calling him once or twice a week, to give him updates both on the state of players in Link VRAINS - as he was a much more direct link, since he was such a well known duelist at this point - and to ask about Yusaku. However, the last few times, he'd added something new into the mix.

"What do I get Kiku for our one month anniversary?" Takeru asked him, sounding mildly panicked. "I feel like I should get her _something_-"

Pinching his nose with his free hand, Ryoken shook his head. He wasn't sure where Takeru had gotten it into his head that they were close, casual friends at this point, but he didn't really have the heart to tell him off completely.

Vaguely, he wondered if Yusaku would be proud of him, for that.

"Get her a duel disk," he said, shaking his head. "I recall you saying she had not ever been in Link VRAINS before." He really didn't want to think about the fact that he was _remembering _these things Takeru told him, but that was for another time.

"I feel like that's lame, but it's better than what I was thinking," Takeru replied after a moment, and Ryoken let out a snort. He could only imagine what the younger boy had thought up, with his complete lack of fashion sense and color awareness. "Anyways, any news about Yusaku?"

That was ground he felt more comfortable covering. "None." He had just finished checking, after all. "I'm assuming you haven't heard or seen anything, either." It was a question, technically, but he ended it definitively. He was positive nobody had seen him or heard from him, yet.

They devolved into talk about Link VRAINS, after that, but after Ryoken hung up the call, he felt almost less exhausted then he was before. It was hard to admit, but he supposed he really had opened himself up to Takeru. To being his friend.

A small, secret part of him hoped that when Yusaku came home, he would be happy with his progress. It wasn't easy, trying to move on after a life like he had lived, but if Yusaku was willing to try, then he would be, too. Just this once.

* * *

"Will he return?" Spectre asked him one day, three and a half months after Yusaku had dueled Ai. They hadn't been talking about anything in particular, just doing heir daily work in the network, but Ryoken hadn't been surprised.

Every night, he still preformed his nightly ritual. The space in the room across from his would stay empty, until he had permission to do something else with it. "Of course," Revolver replied, a rare smile shining through as he spoke. There were no room for doubting. Regardless of how long it took, Yusaku would come back. "Playmaker will definitely return. And much stronger."

It was what he'd been telling himself for months, now, but interestingly enough, the longer time went on, the more he started to believe it. His therapist had at first criticized his lack of critical thinking towards the matter, but that was alright with him. She didn't know Yusaku like he did.

There were three things he had to tell the boy, anyway, when he returned. His therapist didn't love that he still did everything in sets of threes, but that was alright with him, too. It was an old habit, and one that carried a lot more to it than any of his other nasty ones that she was helping him break.

1: That he had begun to find that new future; the one that he had spoken of so desperately that evening on top of the Tower.

2: That they still had a score to settle - another duel to be had, just like Revolver had promised him.

And 3: Welcome home.

* * *

**Notes**

I won't get too sappy here, as I've done literally on every other account I own LMAO, but I will say that tomorrow, so long as I'm not too headache-y from crying so much, I'll be getting my third tattoo. I promised myself back in November of last year that if by the end of Vrains I loved it just as much as I did at the time, I would get Ryoken's tattoo. In fact, I love the series even _more_, because of what it's done for me, so I guess I have to fulfill my promise, aha. I'm looking forward to it immensely.

And don't worry - I won't stop creating Vrains content. I've got a lot more ideas I want to write about, and I'll never stop loving DataStorm or stop wanting to give Miyu the spotlight she deserved. Thanks for reading, as always, and see y'all next time.


End file.
